How to replacate Marlin Mar-Shield finish

[canoe1]

Any idea how I can replacate the Mar-Shield finish that Marlin uses. In the past I have preped my wood and sent it to Marlin for them to finish. This has worked well and they have come back looking factory new. Marlin will not refinish wood anymore. I am not sure what the Mar-Shield finish is, probably a 2 part epoxy based finish. Have any idea how I can achieve a factory looking finish? I am a little East of you in Camden. Regards, Brian.

[Sportster]

http://doitbest.com/Main.aspx?PageID...paign=DATAFEED

Works like a champ.

[canoe1]

Thanks for the tip Sportster. I will pick up a can tomorrow and give it a try.

[Dan May]

Though it is anyone's guess exactly what Mar-Shield's make up is, I can say with certainty that it is most likely an epoxy based coating. It is thick, very hard and difficult to strip! It does appear that, like most modern manufacturer's finish, the stain is mixed in with the finish. This tends to hide the grain of the wood to some extent as the finish is somewhat like "mud" applied over the wood. With this in mind, if you are going to use a clear finish after the wood is stripped and sanded, you will have to stain prior to finishing in order to add any color back to the wood.

I've never used the Minwax spray and can't give you any advice there. In my experience you will most likely have to deal with "orange peel" with any kind of spray finish out of a can. You may be better served by hand applying Minwax Wipe On Poly which is a fine product as well.

My finishing bench is covered with at least two dozen different finishes, some are commercial and some are "home brew" mixes developed over years of experimentation. What I choose for a certain project depends on many factors but the above mentioned Wipe On Poly would be a safe choice for what you are trying to achieve, I believe.

Hope this helps,

Dan

[Sportster]

I'm telling you.....you'd be amazed at how good the spray on Minwax Satin Poly works. It's a dead ringer for the factory finish. You need a new can and it needs to be very slighty warm.

There are all kinds of great finishes but they don't look like Marshield.

[canoe1]

Thanks Dan and Sportster. Good innformation. I have re-finished a lot of stocks and have stocked about a dozen rifles from blanks but the Mar-Shield has me stumped. I understand what you are saying about orangepeal and stain in the finish Dan. Years ago we called that a colored varnish. The wood on the Marlin is pretty dark Black Walnut so I may be OK on color. The flat poly may just work. If it were a high gloss I would probably have a problem. I will test the 2 products first and see what the results are. I hate to strip the butt stock to get a perfect match but I may have to. I am dealing with a new in the box 1894S in 44-40. The carbine is about 20 years old and the dealer never sold it because the forarm was damaged and he never returned it to his distributer.

Your correct Dan about Mar-Shield being a tough finish to remove. About 6 coats left on about 2 hours at a time did the trick. Used Citristrip which is a great product to use in the house. Most of the stock damage was in the finish and some minor steaming and sanding has cleaned it up nicely. Sportster's comment about heating the can may be the key to this project. The heat may thin the poly enough to eliminate any orangepeal. Thanks again to 2 of you. I hope to get over your way soon Dan, sure want to see your shop. Regards, Brian.

[Sportster]

I just set it in warm water for awhile. Proper application prevents "orange peel" which many Marshield stocks have from the factory. Only the newest guns have the tint. Older Marlins don't.

[Halwg]

I'd also go with the wipe-on-poly. I'm not good spraying finishes, and the wipe-on is very forgiving. But, neither of these products is going to look anything like the Marshield finish. I think it will look better.

[Sportster]

If you want a wipe on finish, I'd go with the Minwax Satin Tung Oil Finish. If you want Marshield then the spray I mentioned looks just like it.

The first one I posted isn't the one I used. That's an interior finish. This one is an exterior poly and one of the very few waterproof gun stock finishes you can apply without equipment.

http://www.bicwarehouse.com/spray-sp...ane-33255.html

[Halwg]

As you can see, there is no consensus on the best gun stock finish. Everyone has a favorite. There are any number of finishes that will work, but as in applying any coating, surface preparation is the key to a good result.